Women Owned Businesses Still Have Difficulty Winning Government Contracts

Businesses Owned by Women Less Likely to Win U.S. Contracts, Study Shows

The odds of businesses owned by women winning a federal contract are about 21 percent lower than for otherwise similar companies, and years of effort to increase those chances have barely made an impact, according to a new report from the Commerce Department.

The report is being released as the federal government is beginning to change a Small Business Administration program that is five years old this week, yet has never met a goal of helping companies owned by women win at least 5 percent of federal contract dollars.

The changes, which were required by a 2014 law that also mandated the report, now make such businesses eligible for no-bid contracts so they can gain the experience needed to win other, competitive projects.

The percentage of federal contract dollars going to companies owned by women rose to 4.7 percent in the 2014 fiscal year, the most recent year that the report examined, from 4 percent in 2011, when the Small Business Administration program to help such companies began, according to the report. Businesses owned by women, which are defined as companies that are at least 51 percent owned by one woman or more, account for about 30 percent of American companies. Read More …